Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by ClockworkOrange:

A 16oz can poured into my Adnams imperial tumbler. Thanks to CaptinRedBeard for tossing this my way. Appears a cloudy golden amber color with a good inch of fluffy off white foam. The head has good staying power and leaves a thin lace on the glass with each sip. Nose and flavors consist of citrus fruits such as orange, grapefruit, and lemon, mildly resinous pine, crackers, a touch of floral perfume. The malt certainly plays second fiddle here. Prickly carbonation with a clean, bitter finish. A bit slick. Thanks again Corey.

More User Reviews:

16oz can....perfect size and awesome for the beach! Pours into my glass a hazy golden orange with a nice fluffy head on top. Aromas are bold with fresh cut grassy / piney hops along with citrus and tropical fruit accents. Dank and resinous with a crisp bready malt backbone.

First sip brings a blast of fresh hop flavor with pine and citrus running about with a touch of grass. Crisp, laid back malt backbone that leaves way for a nice rush of bitterness. Smooth, dry finish with lingering hop after thoughts. Just a great brew overall.

Mouthfeel is smooth, refreshing and easy to drink. Great body and carbonation make this an overall wonderful pale ale that definitely borders towards an IPA. An easy candidate for summer sessions and lazy days at the beach. So glad to have Half Acre join the ranks of Chicago brewers!

Daisy Cutter is, to me, a bit of a delicious conundrum: crisp and bitter, yet easy drinking and imminently consumable. A flaxen-light pale ale, yet heavily-hopped and heavy-hitting. Not an IPA, yet out-classing many an IPA (and IIPA) in its generosity of hopping. It has the abv of a pale ale, but the flavor-profile that belies this lighter level of alcohol. Hell, even Half Acre's own IPAs are often more subtle, smooth, and soft-touched than Daisy Cutter.

And yet, it really, really works. Indeed—while it's ubiquitous enough that it's not really a “treat” beer, in most circumstances—it's always a dependable four-pack at the liquor store, when other options are wanting, and likewise at any bar when the other tap-handles aren't piquing interest. It's stormy, husky, brawling, and big-shouldered; it's the fruit of the plain, sturdy and substantial, like a Sandburg poem; and yet it's lithe and loose and oddly light-as-loam.

It pours a very golden pale, with a slight reddish-brown heart and minimal head. The aroma is suffused with hops, but hints at the airy malts underneath, and altogether emanates a sharp, clean, buoyant, marginally citric bouquet. Meanwhile, the taste arrives as a sequence of impressions: bittersweet, then malt-fruit, then floral-hop, then bitter-clean, then—almost drying out the mouth to cleanse the palate—this pale ale leaves only a residue of hoppy bittersweetness. Throughout, the texture is mostly airy, and never overly viscous or excessively weighted, though it's a little bit chewier than many pale ales.

In the end, Daisy Cutter's not a beer for all times, nor the most special or precious of ales; but it's nevertheless a beer befitting most times, and that's its own genuine speciality.

Poured from a fresh growler, the beer is orange/peach with a bit of a chill haze and awesome stick off-white head and lacing.

I love the aroma of pine sap, caramel malts & citrus,

The taste is pleasantly bitter. Pine & citrus (lemon & trailing grapefruit) taste lead the way, but the beer seems well balanced with light sweet malts in the background. Yes the hops are very prominent but the beer never comes off as one sided.

The mouth is a nice combination of silky & oily. The beer is so easy to drink. I hope to see this on tap at more outlets. Well done guys!

If citrus and hop resins are your thing. If you want a burst of hop goodness at moderate alcohol content. If you need your hoppy beers crisp, clean, and without any malt attempt to balance, then Daisy is your gal.

The beer pours with a hazy medium amber/copper color, releasing a soft white head with the consistency of mousse and creme. Great formation, great retention, and great lacing. Hard to ding this appearance as it hits all the marks of Pale Ales.

Aromas of malty graham crackers and caramel are quickly overtaken by citrusy grapefruit and orange zest while grassy elements of pine resin and pungent herbals contribute varying aromas each time the nose approaches the rim of the glass.

And with such toffeed, bread crusty flavors setting the base; the hops also somehow dominate the taste as well. With nearly a toasty or buttery flavor, the hop onslaught is so crisply intense that it makes the malt character seem trivial. Citrus, pine, grasses, herbs, and even onion/garlic begin to reveal themselves with an unveiling with each and every sip. You got to like that pungent catty character to hops to appreciate the complexities of this beer. With all the hop-malt interplay, the beer doesn't need much else to convalute the balance. It does well with the simple and elegant balance.

Though malt flavor gives a big impression, there's no sweetness to interfere with body or drinkability. No sir, this beer is dry, crisp, clean, refreshing, and sessionable despite the over-5% abv.

Powerfully smooth but with toasty-hoppy dryness, it reminds me a lot of Three Floyds Alpha King but wit a crisper, cleaner body and less sweet- a respectable compliment to say the least.

Daisy Cutter is set in front of me and with it comes a hazy golden body with moderate peach highlights. The bone white head is about one finger in height with the creaminess of frothed milk and shows excellent staying power. Chunky spider webbed lacing gets left behind after each gulp.

The nose on Daisy Cutter is super tropical with notes of mango, first and foremost, followed by papaya and some other tropical goodness. Freshly cut grass has its fingerprints all over the aroma of this APA as well; basically there are fistfuls of hops in this beauty. The malt base is very lightly caramel and somewhat biscuity allowing the hops to be the showcase.

The flavor picks up where the aroma left off. Tropical fruit sweetness get things going over the top of that light caramel and sweet biscuity malt base. Mid palate comes with the buzzsaw bitterness of the grassy hops and the bitterness grows through the swallow. There's a squeeze of lemon on the back end that works superbly. This is a hop bomb of an APA and done just to my liking.

Daisy Cutter has a moderate body with carbonation that's lively enough to push it through at a healthy pace. The bitterness on the back of the tongue continues to grow with each drink and actually gets up there pretty damn high for an APA.

The drinkability is ridiculously high. It has a great hop bite with low enough abv to put away a few pints in a sitting without a problem and there's a refreshing quality that keeps it flowing.

Watch out Alpha King, we have a new crown in town. Daisy Cutter is one of my best beer finds of the last couple months and the best pale ale I've ever come across. If you run across this on tap make sure to grab two pints, the first will disappear before you know it.

Big thanks to cocoapuph for throwing this in as an extra - I've been wanting it for quite a while, so I'm happy to finally try it. Daisy Cutter pours a cloudy and semi-translucent golden color that isn't quite yellow and isn't quite amber. The clumpy, white head fades rather quick, although it does leave behind some chunky webbing.

Aaaand, wow. The first whiff of Daisy Cutter is so raw and pure; an abundance of hops jump out and smack your nose silly. Grassy, wet, leafy, and adhering to a light bit of spice on the tail end. The hops just smell so "fresh", it would be easy to mistake this for a wet-hopped beer. After some time, Daisy Cutter starts smelling like a freshly cut lawn. The finish shows some faint mango peel, lightly tropical and sweet.

I can't think of a better word to describe the flavor profile than "bright". Each sip tastes very bright and vibrant, bursting with more fresh-cut grass, wet florals, leaves, and mild peppery hop spice. Fruit is a bit more pronounced on the palate (or perhaps my palate is just better at picking those things up than my nose) with bouts of bitter citrus peels and mango skins. This is a damn good pale ale.

Daisy Cutter isn't crazy bitter; after all, you really wouldn't expect extreme bitterness from a pale ale, would you? There is a nice, solid bitterness, however, that stings the back of the tongue and gives the hop-heads the jolt they're looking for. The body is pretty light, sitting around thin-medium, with quite a bit of carbonation, leaving a crisp and sharp mouth feel that helps to accentuate the flavors.

Highly drinkable, tasty, and extremely flavorful pale ale. What else can you say? If this were available near me, it would definitely be one of my "go-to" beers, given the fact that it drinks as easy as water and it's only 5.2% ABV. Plus, I love beers that come in 16 oz. cans. If you're a pale ale fan, get you some Daisy Cutter right away.

A: This pours a moderately hazy amber with a slight orange highlights. The rocky, off-white head seems to last forever and leaving some lacing on the glass. It poured with about a finger of foam to start.

S: The nose is awesome with an intense hop aroma of pineapple, moderately-high pine, citrus and mango. Moderate grassiness and a low fruity ester. There is a mild biscuit, light malt sweetness in the back.

T: The malt profile reminds me that oh yeah this is a pale ale, not one of the better smelling IPAs. The moderately-high hops flavors of pineapple, citrus and pine dominate the flavor along with a moderately-high hops bitterness. There is a little bit of malt support but no caramel like an IPA, just a slight malt sweetness and flavor. The balance is all hops and bitterness with a lingering bitterness and a dry finish. A lime-like fruitiness becomes evident as it comes up to temperature.

M: It's got a moderately-light body with a moderately-high carbonation. There is a very slight creaminess and not astringency.

O: What an impressive if not wildly unbalanced Pale Ale that serves as a wonderful showcase for the hops.

Glows a wonderful apricot color that beams down through the heavens of my ceiling fan lamp.

Piney American hops dominate the aroma. Blood oranges. Bold for a pale, it reminds me of an IPA that Sierra might make.

The taste adds a bready/biscuity malt backbone to balance. Pine, bitter citrus, kumquat lean in before a slight chocolate note in the bitter fade. If I didn't know better I would say this is an IPA. Bold and flavorful with medium, perfect, carbonation for the style. Seems a bit thin at first, works itself out though.

Pours a slightly hazy golden straw/ orange with a pillowy white head and medium lacing down the glass. The head dies into a thin layer of bubbles across the surface of the glass.

The nose wafts out of the can as soon as the tab is popped. The tropical hop smell of grapefruit and tangerine; a combination of hops that gets me every time. The nose is very bright and light, a perfectly refreshing nose for an APA.

The taste mirrors those tropical hops. A nice resiny sensation fills your mouth. The tiniest bit complimentary malt can be found of the backside but for the most part this is a crisp hop forward APA. A great example of how a hop punch can be packed in a beer below 6%.

The mouthfeel is crisp and dry, refreshing and leaves me always wanting to take a sip. This beer truly is great and so has great repeat drinkability being only 5.2%, light, and crisp.

A bit of haze sits on the orangey-gold color; gets a bit clearer when it gains some warmth. Sudsy head that all beers wish for straddles the inside of the glass. Raw prickly citric rind and pine sap in the nose, West Coast-style all the way. Super smooth, bitty with some substance on the palate. Hops are of the "in your face" style with a nice inner-cheek-hug- ging bitterness and citric bam that makes your mouth pucker a bit. That pucker leads to the desire for another sip. Toasty, doughy, biscuity malts provide a great base, a little yeasty too, but mostly bready. Citric, mint, drying hoppy finish.

Old-school "microbrew" style here, fresh and raw with more than enough flavor to go around. Surpassing the benchmark.

Aroma: "This is the best smelling beer ever!" Tons of floral and grassy hops. I could sniff this all day.

Appearance: Cloudy, golden-orange. One of the Half Acre employees simply refers to this beer as "orange juice."

Flavor: A flowery little hop bomb with a crisp, citrus finish.

Mouthfeel: Soft and smooth. Lightly coats your mouth.

We had a party with a keg of this back in September. There were approximately 40 people in attendance, and we had no problem killing it in one evening. It's an extremely easy drinking beer, and not too strong. Even the non-beer drinkers, and non-hop heads, were loving the Daisy Cutter. It just tied for 3rd place at the Chicago Beer Society's Fall Tasting. And most exciting is there's going to be a Daisy Cutter Hot Dog coming soon to Hot Doug's!! Needless to say, we'll be there.